District News Articles

6/5/2018 Summer Watering Rules

Outdoor watering violations continue to decline each year in Denver. In 2017, there were around 750 reports of people watering outside the summer watering rules — nearly 1,700 less reports than we received in 2015.

These numbers are showing that our customers are paying attention to their water use. The annual summer watering rules, which are in place from May 1 to Oct. 1, have seven common-sense guidelines to ensure customers are irrigating efficiently, like limiting outdoor watering to three days or less per week and only during cooler times of day — between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m.

When the district is notified about water waste we will ask Denver Water to assist in notifying the property owner, so they can be aware of the issue. Most customers won’t need to be notified again but if there are repeat violations, one of Denver Water’s field service technicians will respond.

These skilled technicians are in the field daily, reading and working on meters and responding to high-bill concerns by customers. If they see or are alerted to water waste at a property, they will talk with that customer or leave educational material on the door to notify them about the issue.

The most common outdoor water-waste issues are watering during the day, watering sidewalks and broken sprinkler heads. In most cases, when customers are notified of excessive water use, they immediately fix the problem. But there is more to being an efficient water user than just following the rules. It is recommended that customers utilize rebates on smart irrigation controllers and high-efficiency sprinkler head nozzles. Roughly, 65 percent of customers are classified as efficient water users. Efficient water users use 12 gallons of water or less per square foot in their yard per year.

If you see water waste in your area, fill out this easy online form or call 303-893-2444 and Denver Water will work to notify the customer that there is an issue and provide them with educational information.